The truck stop and travel plaza industry is at the crossroads of a revolution, and in every revolution, there is hope and there is fear. The good news for operators is that there is runway for growth. To succeed, they need to create a compelling and consistent brand experience, provide convenience and develop innovative solutions. Polly Flinn, founder and principal of Flinnstone Strategies, shared those thoughts during her keynote address at NATSO Connect. Flinn has run thousands of stores and built hundreds, most recently serving as executive vice president and president for the GetGo Cafe+Market banner in the supermarket chain Giant Eagle.
“Like you, I have sat at the crossroads sometimes wondering what the future is all about,” she said while speaking to attendees. “One of my favorite quotes is: The future is here. It’s just not evenly distributed.”
Flinn recommended that operators spend time talking with their teams about the vision for the future. “It is hard to understand where you’re going if you don’t know how to get there,” she said, adding that operators should ask themselves three key questions. “What business will I be in in ten years? What will I be known for by my customers? How can I future-proof new travel centers that we are building now?”
Quick-Service Restaurants And Food-Related Partnerships.
Many locations have already added quick-service restaurants and developed food-related partnerships to drive traffic and profitability.
“I would say in the next 10 years, you’re probably going to have to go further. My hypothesis and suggestion to you going forward is you should be thinking the same thing about food—you should be controlling that offer and that supply chain,” Flinn said.
Delicious Proprietary Food.
One strategy is to develop delicious proprietary food and figure out ways to make it multi-daypart.
Flinn told attendees about Egg Tuck, a restaurant that offers an all-day breakfast sandwich. “There are 15 different ways to take a simple egg sandwich and make it ownable and distinctive for your business. It is not only Instagram-able. It is delicious,” she said.
Made-to-Order Beverages.
Another hot segment is made-to-order beverages. “It is exploding,” Flinn said. “Why? An 80% margin. Everybody is getting into it.”
Fruity drinks, milkshakes and coffee drinks could all grow market share. How to get started in building a made-to-order beverage program depends where operators are in their ‘Be A Restaurant’ journey.
“If you already have a successful proprietary food offer, I recommend focusing on adding cold beverages such as iced-coffees and cold brews along with fruit-based refreshers,” Flinn said. “If you are just getting started on a proprietary food program, I would recommend designing a ‘get started’ proprietary food program that fits your capabilities and meets your specific customer profile for your travel center.”
Re-purpose Areas of the Store.
She also suggested operators think about how they could re-purpose areas of the store based on the time of day.
“Most of our self-serve coffee areas become deserts after 10 a.m. We dedicate 10% of our floor area to these, but then there is nobody there. Really think about destination a.m. and p.m. coffee areas that allow you to do self-serve and made-to-order,” she said.
What About Alcohol?
Operators should also think outside of the box. “As you think about beverages, your offers and where you want to be in five to ten years, I’m going to be controversial and talk about alcohol,” Flinn said, adding that GetGo Café added alcoholic beverages to its menus. “It went from zero to $1 million in two months.”
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